260/Mission success! Or was it..

Mission success! Or was it..
Date of Scene:	03 March 2020
Location:	6C - Matt Murdock
Synopsis:	Success! At the price of old vulnerabilities being pried open on each of them.
Cast of Characters:	Matthew Murdock, Elektra Natchios

---

Matthew Murdock has posed:
The trip wasn't all that long but it was a little awkward, not at first when the adreneline was pumping, but as it began to fade. What did two ex-lovers talk about after commiting grand larceny? The weather? Thankfully the limo comes to a stop outside of Matt's place and he leads the way up to his apartment using the elevator this time instead of the fire escape.

As they wait for it to arrive, Matt's reminded of what happened outside another elevator earlier and says, "About that kiss," he says. "It was for the mission, I just don't want any of us to get confused about what it meant, especially if we're working together," he says but with enough reluctance to make someone doubt the sincerity of the statement,

Elektra Natchios has posed:
Elektra was still hyped after their grand larceny. Mostly like old times but in a tiny larger scale. Not that she hadn't done her own share of nefarious deeds in the last few years, yet it was always different when Matthew was present. She busied herself going over the ledger for a bit, apparently focused, or perhaps trying to take her mind out of other things that happened during their venture.

Yet of course that Matthew brings it up while they wait for the elevator, she turning to face him with a thoughtful ummm, "Are you trying to justify yourself to me or to yourself?" she wonders. "I am not confused about what it meant, and you shouldn't be either." yet of course she says it in that manner which could mean anything really yet there is a slight increase to the beating of her heart.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Oh there is definitely a bit of left over thrill for Matt as well, heck, he even stole that spare tux from the limo to replace his own that got rather battered by the night's activities. Not something Matt in one of his preachier moods would ever consider.

He cocks his head at Elektra's answer picking up that quickening heartbeat and finding it mirrored in his own. "There's nothing to justify," he says firmly enough to fool most people but likely not Elektra. "Just wanted to be clear." The elevator arrives then and Matt steps inside, waiting for the doors to close before he carries on, switching the topic as he does.

"What did we find?" he asks at the elevator rises slowly upwards.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
Ooo, that certainly brought a bright chuckle out of Elektra, amused at the 'stolen' tux. She even offered to carry it for him, accomplices to the end. Yet the current talk has made her more focused, that dark gaze of hers roaming over Matthew's posture, all those little ticks that she learned to pick up on during their time together. "You are right, we never needed justification for anything." she closes the elevator doors behind them, leaning back against it.

"Just don't say it meant nothing, when in fact it's quite the contrary. Let that at least be something true in our lives, even if nothing else may be." yes, it always went down to truth an deception. Manipulation. Yet now she seems strangely open, taking in a breath and reaching up with her hand to brush over her hair in that nervous tick of hers that perhaps only Matthew knows about. She seems to ignore the talk about the ledger for the moment.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
So, they were going to have this conversation, fair enough. At first Matt is all ready to argue the lie that the kiss had meant nothing, it had just been a convenient way to secure their covers, but he considered her question and held off. Searching his feelings for what it had meant, what it had felt like to peel back the decade bettween that kiss and their last, and live in that moment again.

He breathes a sigh, turning to where Elektra stands against the door, "It didn't mean nothing," he admits. "I guess I wanted to remember what it felt like, before..." all of it came crashing down. "Just seemed like the right moment."

She wanted truth, so there it was.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
That beats the "no comment" responses that Matthew had been using a few times before. And perhaps in a way she wasn't expecting. She is silent for a time while that elevator continues it's slow ascent to the 6th floor, the conflict visible inside her, the erratic beating of her heart or the rise in her temperature. Sure, she figured that Matthew hadn't exactly gotten over her, the same way that she hadn't, yet to hear those words spoken and confirmed is very, very different from simply assuming so.

For a while it seems as if she won't be saying anything but then words come out of her lips. "Thank you." simple enough but full of meaning behind them, for not denying and making it true what once was. For being there again for her, no matter what she did in the past.

"And yes, it was the right moment." She confirms.

The 'ding' announces they have reached their floor.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
There it was out there and the world didn't end. Matt lets out a breath feeling Elektra's conflict and how it mirrors his own. He stands there deafened by the silence as the elevator car crawled upwards. "You're welcome," he says as Elektra breaks the silence to thank him.

Matt nods, "Yeah," he says of the moment, still a little hesitant, unsure what all of that meant right now. The ding saves him from further comment, as he brushes by Elektra to open the doors, and step out into the hall. From there it's a short distance to his door, which he unlocks, and slips inside, holding the door open for Elektra. "At least we don't need stitches this time," he offers with one of those winning Matt Murdock smiles of his to cover over his doubts.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
So much more Elektra could say now, get the truth out, her truth. All it had meant to her, and still did. And what had lead her to attempt and force him in such a manner all those years back. But she doesn't, instead simply hoping that Matthew can read from her what she can't verbalize. Perhaps foolishly. Yet she was also to blame for having lead the conversation there, always pressing for more, never satisfied.

She remains still against the side of the door when Matthew moves past her, hand raising just a notch as if to take his but doesn't. Instead she steps out of the elevator after Matthew, "Thanks to my brilliant planning." she retorts after a moment, her tone lighter, lips turning into a smile as well at Matthew's own. Her own disguise, even if it may not be as effective.

She makes her way inside Matthew's apartment, stepping out of her shoes and leaving them by the entrance. "Hopefully it was worth it though."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
There was a good deal of truth left unsaid between them, but Matt can't find voice for his just yet, and so he continues to play their game and dance this familiar dance with Elektra.

As she breezes past for a moment it looks like he might reach out and catch her, but he doesn't, and simply retorts to her smiled bit about brilliant planning with, "Is winging it really planning?" he asks her letting the door click shut behind him as he follows her inside, setting down his cane and tugging at his bow tie, letting it fall loose around his collar.

He almost asks, 'the kiss or the info' but settles on the safer choice, asking "What did we get?" as he strides across the room lit by the sign outside to join her.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
That familiar dance is a comfort to her, where she can dwell easily so when Matthew calls her 'perfect' planning as winging it she lets out a fake gasp, a brow arching almost indignantly. "I am offended. But fine, we can settle with perfectly winging it." and just like that it's back to normal, or as normal as they can be after all that just transpired.

Her bare feet are heard travelling across the apartment, taking the corner into the main room to settle down on the large sofa.

She sits with one leg pulled under her, the ledger propped on her lap and she opening it. "A lot of movements related to people, drugs..." the sound of some pages being turned forward, "They have been bringing in people. Whatever they are doing here, it's serious. They rarely send so many." she notes, again with that intimate knowledge of the Hand.

Then she gets near the end where some japanese writing is. She frowns. "This appears to be a list of what we want. The artifacts. Hrm..." though she pauses with some hesitation, difficulty in translating it.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Chuckling at Elektra's mock offense, he says, "I'm sure you'll live," he says easing back into that easy banter that was so much easier than the truth. There's a wry smile and a shake of his head at the last as he agrees, "Fine, perfectly winging it," clearly amused that she had to be right even in this.

Matt leans against the sofa head tiltted down out of a habit of making others feel more comfortable, but he couldn't read the pages, so he relies on Elektra to be his eyes. "Great," he says cracking his neck a little. "More ninjas."

He considers to the rest, "We should leak the people smuggling and drugs to the cops to give them something to worry about, but the artifacts sound like what we should be hitting."

Of course that was the hardest part to figure out. There are five more coming though what they are and where is locked behind the code in the ledger.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
"You say it as if you don't like it when ninjas pop up." Elektra banters, eyeing Matthew briefly through the corner of her eyes. But she is quick to return to the ledger at hand. She runs a fingertip across the kanjis. "There is a clear separation here of five more shipments coming in. But besides it being in japanese there is a code behind it." she lets out an hiss of frustration, slamming her back against the back of the couch. "And Wollingsly will clearly be out of reach now for us to get the code."

She presses her lips together in thought. "Don't imagine you have a friend that likes cracking codes for a living, do you?" she questions, "Or we could look for whoever encoded this. It's normally those university type teachers. They get a nice pay to not talk. Considering we are talking about japanese there probably aren't many around that could do this." perhaps she could make a few calls.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt's hand goes to his side as he grimaces, "I think I've had enough ninjas for one lifetime," he jokes lightly even as he rememebers the painful wounds Nobu had inflicted on him.

Matt walks away from the couch taking off his jacket and resting it on the back of a chair as he thinks through things. "The code might be a saving grace," he reasons. "They know we have the ledger but they've got Wollingsly and know we shouldn't be able to break the code without him. Meaning if we can break it they probably won't have changed the schedules or locations."

As for knowing people who could help. "I do, an old friend of mine should be able to handle the codes," he says, or at least he hoped she would be able to. "Also, have you ever heard of the Iron Fist?" he asks her.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
"Talking about your meeting with Nobu?" Elektra figures if there's someone that could had made Matthew sweat that it would had been him. That bastard was strong enough to rival her as well. She hoped it would all be in the past now. Then she smirks. "We should go through our scars one day." since they have already been trampling through their mental ones.

But then her eyes follow him when he begins speaking his thoughts about their problem. She nods her agreement. "Which means they won't change the shipments we have a window of opportunity."

But then he mentions the Iron Fist, the fist of Kun'lun, deadly enemy of the Hand, sworn to destroy it. There had been contracts on him in the past yet she had always skipped those, blessedly. Her answer is all too casual. "Sure. One of the Defenders..." clearly she knowing more about him. "That's your translator?" figures it might be. Ah well, it was something that would have to happen some day, meeting that man.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt turns at the mention of comparing scars, but doesn't say anything just yet, just falls into one of those cryptic Matt silences, though he continues to get out of his tux, unbuttoning his shirt, giving Elektra a view of those scars, in flashes as his shirt hangs open and he ducks into his bedroom for something more comfortable.

"Exactly," he says about the opening, before he returns pulling down a sweatshirt but not before offering a view of a pair of nasty scars on his side and front. He tugs the shirt down into place.

"He might be our best bet, he told us all about the Hand when he met, and I figure, if it's important to the Hand, then he might know about it." He says. "Failing that I've got an old friend from Saint Agnes that's good with codes."

Elektra Natchios has posed:
Those dark eyes of hers take note of those large scars. Deep. Close to having been deadly. Conflicted feelings inside her again and she lets out a faint frown to herself. Worrying isn't normally part of her DNA. "I'd show you mine, but you'd have to touch them and it might not be the right moment for it." specially after that elevator talk. "One day." she offers, eyes returning to the ledger again.

"And he told you about the Hand? That tattle-teller." but it's not as if she cares too much about it. Instead she just lets out a soft sigh, "But in truth, I knew we'd most likely need his help sooner or later. Specially with so many of them coming. Let's try and keep my Hand connections unknown, yes?" not that she expects Matthew to go along with her deception.

The mention of a friend makes her nod. "I can leave the ledger with you then."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
The wounds were very close to being deadly, indeed if he had not had Claire nearby to help they would have been. Still, they were old wounds, ones he didn't worry about except the times he brought a woman home and had to explain them. There's a wry 'Heh' about her showing him hers, "Yeah, that might not be a good idea," he agrees but makes no protest of it happening one day.

There's a smirk at Danny being a tattler. "Pretty much the first thing he mentions," Matt says in some sort of joke by his tone. After all this was Danny 'Immortal Iron Fist, Defender of K'un L'un, Sworn Enemy of the Hand' Rand we were talking about here. He nods about both the need for Danny and to keep Elektra's hand connections secret. "That's why I didn't mention him until now, but I think right now, the risk of you two being in the same room is worth his help, and yeah, I'll keep your involvement secret, we'll just tell him what you told me, that your family did business with them and you discovered some information when you tried to get out. That work?" he asks.

"And thanks, I'll make sure she gives it back, but I think she might be our best bet, plus I'll give her the drug and human smuggling info, should make her bosses happy to pass that along to local law enforcement."

Elektra Natchios has posed:
"Fanatics..., go figure." Not that Elektra can talk much, considering her own personality. But she double-downs on it, an eye-roll to show what she thinks about the Iron Fist. And that without even having met him yet. It'd most likely prove to be an interesting meeting. "But yes, we will go with that story. And it's true as well. Sort of." a smirk. "I am almost flattered though. Lying to your friends for me." she reclines back on the sofa, one elbow resting on it. The ledger is set aside and she watches him now.

"We have a plan, let me know when you get news from your friends and then we will get to business." but she still lingers on that sofa, watching him.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Fanatics, right, not that either of them would know too much about that. Matt nods for the meeting, "Interesting is one way to put it," he says. "Do I need to tell you to play nice?" Would she listen if he did? The bit about lying to his friends though, it gets him and it shows. "Call it crimefighter, ninja-socialite privledge," he says splitting hairs. But what it came down to was the desperate attempt to keep his two differnet worlds from exploding.

"Will do," Matt says before he turns and finds that Elektra hasn't made a single move to leave. "Hoping to compare stars?" he asks wryly cocking his head.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
"Another time. We have had enough excitement for one night." And then Elektra is getting up to her feet, almost like a cat watching prey. She grins at him. Then her steps heard as she begins padding towards the door. But when she reaches the door she tosses over one shoulder. "Do I ever play nice?" a brow rises but she doesn't wait for Matthew to answer, opening the door and stepping out into the night. And bringing her shoes with her this time!